Wildlife awards

Top things to do in Spring

Watch out for returning migrants just arrived in the UK, like swallows and martins getting their first food over British soil as they swoop and swerve over the reedbeds, filling up after the long journey from Africa

Listen to the reserve coming to life as the reedbeds start to fill with the reeling song of warblers and the squealing calls of water rails; the bushes fill with songs and calls of Cetti’s warblers, thrushes and finches

Look out for a wide range of plants along the path, borders splashed with the multi-coloured wonder of our spring flowers and the growing green shoots of the reeds themselves, which will be two metres high in just a few weeks!

Top things to do in Summer

Watch the drama unfold as the common tern colony expands to three times its size with young birds of all ages, from tiny newly-hatched chicks, the size and colour of tiny pebbles, to their older cousins trying their wings out for the first time - all choreographed to the harsh screaming calls of their parents returning with food

See thee flashing iridescent wings and richly-coloured bodies of darting dragonflies, the colourful flying jewellery of our butterflies and day-flying moths and the myriad of other insects and bugs that you can see, and hunt for, around the reserve

Listen out for the excited 'pinging' calls and whirring wings of parties of young bearded tits hunting noisily for insects in the reeds

Top things to do in Autumn

Look out for the electric-blue flash of a passing kingfisher as it searches for its next meal

You might see birds of prey – a sheer feast of poetry in motion... peregrines, kestrels, harriers, hobbies and even ospreys looking for their next meal

The wonderful changing autumn colours, especially in the early morning or evening light, as the reedbed turns first purple with flowers and then amber or golden as the low sun creates halos around every seed head

Top things to do in Winter

A really great time to take a good look at up to eight species of wildfowl - all really close, giving you plenty of time to learn what makes them so special and to enjoy their colourful and often iridescent feathers

Look out for flocks of lapwings sheltering, graced by the occasional golden plover

As the nights draw in, it is a good time to get heron happy – as the (white) little egrets and grey (big) herons start to gather for the evening. Watch out for the (brown) bittern, flying low over the reeds

What's on?

We haven't got any events planned here at the moment. Check out our main events pages to find something up your street (or at least quite near to it).